Communication Arts Design Award of Excellence 2013

Holy moly. Just unwrapped my 2013 Award of Excellence for the Communication Arts Design Annual. Wow, I feel deeply, truly, overwhelmingly blown away that my work was honored amongst the design giants of the competition. Seeing my name in the same list as my design heroes is magical. Crazy town, I tell you.

Various logos

The Poppery, a popcorn shop.

Agent Records logo

(An exercise in logo making.)

Emilie's Pantry logo

Visual inspiration came from the marks on the bottom of chinaware.

Chez Panisse Floor Staff logo

(An exercise in logo making.)

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Letterpress New Years Card, circa 2007

I seemed to be pulling out the oldies but goodies in my posts. I had great fun with this personal New Years card. It was really my first foray into playing with typography. I found little bits of this and that for the frame and put it all together. It was also the first time I used old typefaces from an encyclopedia instead typing out a digital font. I then letterpress printed the card at Heironymus Press under the tutelage of master printer, Richard Seibert. Quite a lucky gal to have worked with such masters of their craft.

Oaktown Spice Shop Identity

I have been in the process of designing the website for my folks at Oaktown Spice Shop. Two years ago they came to me when they were planning on opening their store. I created their identity which included their logo, their business cards, receipts, letterhead, color palettes, the signage in the store as well as outside, their labels, and their temporary splash page.

We are now working on their e-commerce website. My photography will be used for the site, thanks to a wonderful team of stylists, and two amazing photographers. (Thank you Erin Scott. You are a photography genius.)

Letterpress Birthday Broadside

This is a project that is standing the test of time. I still love it after years of looking at it. 

I was asked to design and letterpress a birthday invitation for civil rights attorney, Howard Moore Jr. Because it was going to be a big celebration for a BIG personality I suggested we create a poster/broadside instead. It could be handed out to all of the guests as a gift and serve as a memento of the occasion.

In my research for the design, I found a speaking engagement of Mr. Moore's. The title of that day's talks was "Are you going to lie down, or stand up?" This call to action seemed like a perfect symbol of the attorney's career, so I decided to use this as the building block for my layout. I then found a powerful old photo of three men in the middle of a snowy railroad yard from the 70's in the emblematic pose, one fist in the air.  Howard was well known for throwing up a Power-to-the-People fist himself, so the silhouettes of the men became the other component of my broadside. 

From thereon in I played with the idea of dimension. Up and down of the type, the forward and receding of colors, and three-dimension of the figures with their shadows. These dimensional qualities were all underscored by the tactile quality of the letterpress printing. 

Howard was very pleased. (No easy task, let me tell you.)

California Save The Date Postcards

Though we did not use these Save The Date postcards, I loved the idea. I am hoping to find a use for the beautiful vintage postcards that I found in the process, and have fun with typography.

Baby Announcement

My husband and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary yesterday. It felt right that our son Isley celebrate with us. We had the most delicious, long and relaxed meal at Pizzaiolo in Oakland and our two year old was a champ. He charmed everyone. Posting his baby announcement this morning seems appropriate. I am so grateful he is in our lives.

Eating For Education. 40th Anniversary of Chez Panisse Restaurant

Chez Panisse's 43rd birthday just passed quietly this year on August 28th. The big celebrations took place on the restaurant's 40th. I was brought in by the extraordinary Samin Nosrat for a special event "Eating for Education." It was an effort to bring a national awareness to Edible Education, and Alice thought to use the restaurant's big birthday as an inspiration for the event. I designed a logo, postcard, and flyer for restaurants across the country to educate and raise money for their own local edible schoolyards.

The 40th birthday celebration was quite massive, with many different events at many venues, and over a stretch of time. There were dinners all over the Bay Area, the restaurant itself had a open sidewalk cafe and the Berkeley Art Museum held a huge event for the public.

I had great fun designing the signage for the sidewalk cafe at Chez Panisse. Alice wanted the typography to look and feel like the Bar de la Marine from the original Marcel Pagnol trilogies. I also was asked to do a cheeky temporary tattoo design for the Berkeley Museum event. It read: I am edible. I added to the design Eat me, in Latin. I used the tattoo to introduce the newly re-designed identity of the Edible Schoolyard Project, done by Green Dragon Office, as well as an image of the radish that Alice uses as her personal symbol.  The tattoos were handed out to hundreds of people at the event.

Chez Panisse Bastille Menu

Bastille Day is a celebratory day at Chez Panisse, and a couple of years ago I was fortunate to be asked to design the menus. The menu is written around, and for, a garlic extravaganza; the building is swagged with garlic bulbs everywhere. I worked with Alice Waters directly and her design request was open. She just asked that it feel very french. The Gallic Rooster had the personality that we were looking for. I found the cheeky coq from a beautiful old patriotic poster but Alice wanted garlic in the image to fit the occasion. I drew the garlic bulbs and fit them in as though they were part of the original artwork.  

Fishkill Farms Identity Re-design

I have been working with Josh Morgenthau, a third generation farmer, on re-designing his whole identity for Fishkill Farms. As things often go in this hectic world, we have been working on various projects for him, not necessarily in the logical order of a new look but who cares!

We have recently finished the label for his apple cider, an invitation/flyer and poster for his farm's centennial celebration, and for t-shirts. We'll have more projects on their way.

Bartavelle Logo

Loved working with my friend Suzanne Drexhage on the logo for her coffee and wine bar, Bartavelle,  last year. We are starting to discuss a website for her business, so the logo is on my mind. I had a great time playing with the typography. I used the familiar Extended Trade Gothic, but I hand-set that sucker with the version from my trusty encyclopedia of old typefaces. Why? It feels and looks like a human touched it, doesn't it?

This is one of the few times that I have felt like a project was destined for me. Bartavelle opened in the spot of the long-lived Cafe Fanny, where I worked at as a pipsqueak many years ago. It was where my history with the space, the people, and the world of Chez Panisse and Alice Waters began.

If you haven't tried Suzanne's porridge yet, run don't walk to Bartavelle in Berkeley. It will invade your dreams it's so dang good.

Double Dutch Sweets Banner

Just finishing up a project with a wonderful new client, Shiyuan Deng, owner of Double Dutch Sweets. We worked on a 7 foot retractable banner for her special events. Shiyuan makes the candy bars of your childhood but with good, local, organic ingredients. How great is that?? Shiyuan has her logo and imagery in place, so the strategy of this project was to introduce a little masculinity to a somewhat feminine identity. Made sense to me; everyone loves themselves a yummy candy bar! My style inspiration came from old candy wrappers and adverts.